This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

NEW YORK—Jake Epstein is flying high these days, literally as well as figuratively.

The Toronto actor best remembered for his stint on Degrassi: The Next Generation as well as local appearances in Ross Petty’s Beauty and the Beast and the touring production of American Idiot, is soaring through the air of the Foxwoods Theatre in the title role of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

Yes, Spider-Man, the show that nobody thought would ever open, is heading toward its third anniversary in November, grossing more than a million dollars a week and confounding the doubters.

“Everyone wrote it off, but we’re still going strong,” says Epstein, tearing into an energy-building bowl of pasta after a recent matinee performance. He wasn’t around during the initial sturm und drang that marked the show’s creation, ending with the departure of director Julie Taymor, but “I love to talk to the cast who were around then,” adds Epstein. “And they love to tell their war stories.”

Epstein can trace his involvement with this show to another hit musical he worked on, only in the touring version.

Article Continued Below

“It was my opening night of Spring Awakening in Milwaukee and our musical director, Kim Grigsby, just looked at me backstage and said ‘Peter Parker.’

“I laughed it off, but I remembered it and she kept saying it.”

Fast forward a few years when Grigsby was the musical director of Spider-Man and they were looking for someone to replace Matthew James Thomas (who was going into the title role of Pippin) as the alternate to Reeve Carney on Broadway.

“She told the director I was a huge nerd and I’d be perfect for the part,” laughs Epstein.

He auditioned and impressed everyone enough to go on to the next step, which included getting the approval of both Marvel Comics, which originated the character, and Bono, who had written the show’s score.

Epstein aced all the bases and, as he recalls, “I collapsed on the floor when I finally got the call telling me I had the part. If you’d ever told me that my Broadway debut would be playing Spider-Man, I would have laughed in your face.”

The heavy-duty rock score was one thing for Epstein to master (“I just fake it till I make it”), but the flying was something else.

It’s no secret that a lot of the flying in the show is done by doubles, but the climactic final battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, where the two of them keep swooping over the audience, reveals Epstein with his mask off, clearly doing his own aerial dynamics.

“I was a bit scared at first, but it was very safe and I never really got nervous until there was an audience.”

And those nerves were mainly due to the presence of his parents in the house.

“They sat in the flying circle where I land, but I didn’t know that. I was looking around the house for my parents and then, right at the end, I land in front of them. My mom is sobbing uncontrollably, my dad is laughing like crazy.”

Keeping in shape for the show also takes a major effort and Epstein says that, “I do this special program they invented for guys who fly in the show. It’s called ‘Revolution in Motion,’ but I call it ‘Ninja Training.’

Epstein loves every part of the game, including signing autographs after the show. “The kids all literally think I’m Spider-Man and they ask me how I shoot my webs. It’s flattering and crazy, but it’s Spider-Man they’re in awe of, not Jake Epstein.”

In his spare time, he’s been doing workshops and readings of upcoming Broadway shows, including Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, where he played the role of Gerry Goffin in the workshop.

“The dream is to originate a role in a show on Broadway,” admits Epstein. “That’s the ultimate goal.”

But right now, he’s committed to weaving his webs until the end of August. After that, he plans to stay in New York for a while, giving his all to whatever project he winds up connected to.

“I take it pretty seriously, no matter what it is,” says Epstein, which is only right. After all, with great power comes great responsibility.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com